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Press Release

Bard College Conservatory of Music Hosts a Conversation with Soprano Dawn Upshaw and Composer Osvaldo Golijov, Sunday, October 5

The Bard College Conservatory of Music will host a conversation with Dawn Upshaw, soprano, and Osvaldo Golijov, composer, on their collaborations and their work in a Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop. The program is presented by The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall in partnership with the Graduate Program in Vocal Arts of the Conservatory and takes place on Sunday, October 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Olin auditorium. Robert Martin, dDirector of the The Bard College Conservatory of Music and Bard’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, will moderate the discussion. The program is free and open to the public.

The Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop for Singers and Composers is dedicated to creating new works for voice and chamber ensemble by developing the talents of a new generation of composers and singers who create and perform these works. Hosted on the Bard campus, the workshop is directed by Upshaw and Golijov and brings together 18 extraordinarily talented singers (13 from Upshaw’s Graduate Program in Vocal Arts at the Bard Conservatory), eight emerging young composers, and a dozen instrumentalists. Under the expert guidance of their distinguished mentors and drawing inspiration from their colleagues, these young musicians work and learn together. They also interact with the entire Bard community as they develop and refine the creation of new musical works for the human voice and a varied complement of instruments.

American soprano Dawn Upshaw is recognized as one of the world’s foremost singers, performing on international opera stages, with major orchestras, and in recital. A three-time Grammy winner, Miss Upshaw is the director of the new Graduate Program in Vocal Arts at Bard, a training program that she created especially for the Conservatory.

Argentinean-born composer Osvaldo Golijov trained in Israel and later the United States, at the University of Pennsylvania and Tanglewood. Last season’s New York performances of his opera Ainadamar, starring Upshaw, played to sold-out houses and rave reviews. Golijov’s song cycle Ayre was written for her as well. Golijov, recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, is collaborating with Francis Ford Coppola on a film score.

Catered to the individual and professional needs of young artists ages 18 to 35, the Professional Training Workshops of The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall provide a special opportunity to explore every aspect of musical life with the leading artists of our time. These week long intensives give insight and tools to nurture artistic vision, offer ways to communicate and connect with audiences, and provide an opportunity to build a community of friends and colleagues to last throughout a career.

Building on its distinguished history of innovation in the arts and education, Bard College established The Bard College Conservatory of Music in 2005. This innovative, five-year, double-degree program is guided by the principle that musicians should be broadly educated in the liberal arts and sciences to achieve their greatest potential. While training and studying for the bachelor of music degree with world-class musicians and teachers and performing in state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Frank Gehry–designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Bard Conservatory students also pursue a bachelor of arts degree at Bard, one of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges.

The Bard College Conservatory of Music’s instrumental and composition faculty includes renowned musicians and composers, including violinists Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, Weigang Li, Laurie Smukler, and Arnold Steinhardt; violists Steven Tenenbom, Michael Tree, and Ira Weller; cellists Sophie Shao and Peter Wiley; double bassist Marji Danilow; pianists Melvin Chen, Jeremy Denk, Peter Serkin, and Richard Goode; oboists Laura Ahlbeck and Richard Dallessio; flutist Tara Helen O’Connor; clarinetists Laura Flax and David Krakauer; bassoonist Marc Goldberg; hornists Julie Landsman and Jeffrey Lang; trombonist John Rojak; trumpeter Mark Gould; and tuba player Alan Baer. The Colorado Quartet and Da Capo Chamber Players are in residence. Members and principals of the American Symphony Orchestra are also available for instruction, coaching, and leading of sectional rehearsals in the Conservatory Orchestra. In addition, the resources and faculty of the Bard College Music Program are available to students of the Conservatory.

The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie HallThe Weill Music Institute creates wide-reaching music education programs that play a central role in Carnegie Hall’s commitment to making great music accessible to as many people as possible. With its access to the world’s greatest artists and latest technologies, The Weill Music Institute is uniquely positioned to inspire the next generation of music lovers, nurture tomorrow’s musical talent, and contribute to the evolution of music education itself. Its educational programs are woven into the fabric of the Carnegie Hall concert season, serving more than 115,000 children, students, teachers, parents, young music professionals, and adults in New York City metropolitan area, across the United States, and around the world annually. The Weill Music Institute’s school-based programs alone reach over 50,000 New York City and area public school students each year.

For more information about the Bard College Conservatory of Music, call 845-758-7196, e-mail conservatory@bard.edu, or log onto the program’s website, www.bard.edu/conservatory.